Footprints
by Malara
Summary: While returning the Steward’s son back to Gondor, a party of elves is discovered by orcs. One stubborn, lost Ranger and one proud, lonely elf meet and give each other a bit of peace. [ON HOLD AGAIN]
1. Decisions

Hello, everybody! Run away while you still can... ;)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Lord of the Rings_. This goes for all of the chapters.

**Warning: **You really should see all three Extended Edition versions of Lord of the Rings before you read this because 1. THEY ARE GREAT and 2. the story will make more sense if you know who Frodo is. :) The story is mainly based off of the books, but if you've seen the movies, you'll be okay.

This story has many original characters. Call Meliwen a Mary Sue if you wish, but PLEASE tell me WHY think you that. As always, all comments, suggestions, questions, random remarks (those are my favorites! :) ) and reviews are welcome!

IMPORTANT: NOTHING IN CHAPTER ONE CHANGED! I just wanted to re-post to I could change a few things with the story. Chapter two will be up soon. (yeah right!)

Chapter One: Decisions

If a weary traveler were to visit the beautiful Imladris, he would be at peace. Imladris was always open to anyone who stopped by, and the elves tried to make everyone feel welcome and safe.

However, some of the elves themselves were not at peace.

Lord Gil-galad of Imladris had been pacing in the library for the last four hours, pondering on what to do. It was late at night, but he had to give an answer by dawn...

"I _need _to make a decision tonight!" He sighed, and began to walk up and down the library again. Occasionally, his lips would mutter a simple prayer: "Give me knowledge. Give me strength. Give me courage."

Gil-galad sat down at his desk, and began to re-read the message he had received that evening. It _had_ been a quiet, relaxing night.

"We should have known something was wrong," Gil-galad said to himself.

_The elves sighed with relief as the final orc was destroyed._

_"Elrond, search nearby for any other orcs. We will go back to Imladris with the wounded."_

_Elrond nodded. He was surprised; the fight had been quick. The orcs outnumbered the elves, but the elves had no trouble defeating the enemy. He figured it was just luck._

_Gil-galad thought otherwise. He and Glorfindel looked at each other for a moment, each knowing what the other was thinking._

_"That was easy... too easy," Glorfindel muttered._

_"Are you complaining?" Gil-galad's young advisor, Erestor, asked._

_Glorfindel ignored his friend's sharp remark. He looked all around him, searching for something. "Where are they?" he said to himself._

_"Our scouts said there were many more," Gil-galad said. "Where did they go?"_

_There was a moment of silence._

_"It's quiet," Erestor remarked._

_"Too quiet," Glorfindel said, his eyes narrowing._

_"It can never be 'too quiet'," Erestor remarked. All the same, he reached for his sword._

_"Elrond will tell us if he finds anything," Gil-galad said. "We need to return."_

_Later in the afternoon, Elrond returned._

_"None."_

_Gil-galad nodded. _'We'll just have to wait to see where they are,' _he thought. _

_After a few hours, the elves forgot about the missing orcs. They had gone their separate ways: Erestor was reading an outrageously large book titled "_Dwarves" _after his arm was bandaged, Glorfindel was annoying him about the book, and Elrond was saying something about Galadriel's daughter to Alphiel, a healer. Gil-galad had decided to get some rest--he had done _something _to his ribs, and it hurt a lot._

_Gil-galad was almost asleep when somebody knocked on his door. "Come in!" Alphiel walked in with a serious expression on her face. He groaned. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"_

_"No, my lord. I think you should come downstairs immediately."_

_"Alphiel, what is it?"_

_She didn't respond; she already was halfway down the stairs._

_Gil-galad felt like someone was beating him over the head with a rock as he walked down the stairs. '_I _need _more sleep,' _he thought. All of his feelings of self-pity were suddenly forgotten, though._

_A young soldier from Gondor sat in a chair. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow._

_"He says he will not move until he speaks with you," Alphiel said. "I don't know how badly he is hurt..."_

_Gil-galad walked over to the soldier._

_"What is it you have to say to me?" he asked._

_"My lord... I have a message from Gondor. It is URGENT that you respond by dawn tomorrow."_

_"How were you hurt?" _

_"Our party was attacked by orcs. My captain told me to run to Rivendell, and give you this." He handed the elf lord the message, then with a shuttering sigh, he closed his eyes forever._

_"Read it," Erestor said, walking over to Gil-galad._

_Glorfindel glared at him for disturbing the peace. The soldier wasn't simply... a soldier, he was a person. A person who lost his life for a cause. And as much as he wanted to know what that cause was, he paused for a moment._

_Gil-galad was silently reading it. His eyes widened as he read it. Without an explanation, he walked back to his room._

And this was where he was now. He considered talking to Elrond, Erestor, and Glorfindel, but he already knew what they would say.

A knock on the door brought Gil-galad out of his thoughts. "Come in."

"It is a wonder you haven't put a hole in the floor with your pacing."

"What makes you think I was pacing, Alphiel?"

"I could see your shadow outside. What is troubling you?"

Weary, Gil-galad sat down. "Gondor calls for aid."

Alphiel sighed. "Will you help them?"

"If Gondor needs help, things are worse that we expected."

"_You_ expected this.You knew Sauron was becoming stronger.You just hopedyou were wrong."

"True."

"I think you should help Gondor. If we do not, they will surely perish. We have the power to at least assist them. They are not strong enough to fight alone."

"But neither are we." Gil-galad turned to face her. "Sauron is simply too strong."

"Think about it this way," Alphiel said quietly. "If we stay, we will lose our lives. If the enemy has victory over Gondor, he will move west, destroying all in its path. We will die when Sauron's army come to Imladris."

"Nay, that is not true. The enemy will want revenge over… certain things. Death is too merciful for the Dark Lord." Gil-galad glanced down at the ring he was wearing.

"Are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?"

"That He has a 'Master Ring'?"

"I believe so."

"Can we win?"

"No. Not a chance."

"There is always hope. We will either fall in Mordor or in Imladris."

"We could sail West."

Alphiel threw him a dark look. "And what would Men do?

"Maybe it is time for them to fight on their own."

Alphiel sighed. "It is a dangerous gamble. But we can either lose our lives staying here, or lose our lives fighting. The choice is yours, but as for me, I'll be fighting alongside Gondor."

"_I_ think we should fight; trying to convincemy more peacefulcompanions to fight will be a great challenge. And even if we do get soldiers, we cannot have victory against Sauron."

"At least we shall go down fighting," Alphiel commented dryly. "But remember this: the decision is yours. The reason my husband does not give advice is because advice is one of the most dangerous things you can give. Let this choice be yours."

The elf lord sighed. "I will give this more thought."

Alphiel took her cue to leave. "Good night, my lord."

"Good night, Alphiel."

Alphiel stopped when she was almost out of the door. "Oh, and Gil-galad?" she said with a smile.

"Yes?"

"If you do go, good luck telling Glorfindel."

Glorfindel laughed. Hard.

"You. Must. Be. Joking."

"No, Glorfindel, I am serious."

Glorfindel was still smiling. "You cannot be serious."

"I am."

'_Glorfindel's not intelligent enough toaccept thathe is going to _die!_' _Erestor thought dryly, mentally rolling eyes. Realizing nobody else was going to say it, he asked, "Have you taken complete leave of your senses?"

"It is the only logical solution."

Gil-galad had decided he would rather tell his friends sooner than later that they were going to war. They took it surprisingly well. Erestor questioned Gil-galad's sanity, Elrond nodded his head, and Glorfindel laughed.

"Marching on the Black Gate!?!" Erestor exclaimed. Although he knew Gil-galad was not joking, he wondered if his lord knew what he was doing.

"What else would you have me do?" Gil-galad snapped. Not only was the decision weighing heavily on him, he hadn't had much sleep. He was not in the mood to receive a lecture.

"What possibly possessed you to aid Gondor?" Glorfindel asked, finally grasping what his lord was saying.

"If we stay here, we will die," Elrond said.

"The enemy is not pleased with Imladris," Erestor said. "We will have to suffer great consequences if Sauron gains power. We must be careful."

"So you would rather die in a suicidal attempt to stop Him instead of staying in Imladris?"

"Yes," Gil-galad said. "It has been decided. We leave in two days time."

Erestor quickly walked to his room. He desperately wanted to talk to his wife. He heard Glorfindel mutter under his breath something that sounded like, "I'm going to cut off all of his hair when we return."

Erestor wondered if they _would _return. He had always been very, very realistic, and never sugar-coated anything. He knew he was going to die unless the Valar were feeling very generous. He, too, wondered who could possibly make Gil-galad go to Mordor.

He wasn't too thrilled when he found that someone was his wife.

"What do you mean, you talked to Gil-galad?!"

"I talked to him. I told him what I thought."

"And that would be…?"

"That he should help them," Alphiel calmly said.

Erestor put his head in his hands. "You _do _realize that you sent us to our death!?"

"Erestor… Sauron is much stronger than we had originally thought. If we do not fight him, the _first _place he would want to destroy would be Imladris! There is hope that we can will this battle."

"Not much!" Erestor shot back. "You don't know what you go us into."

"Erestor, I have something that you will _never _be able to understand: hope! This _must _be a victory! It cannot be a defeat; life as we know it will disappear."

"Alphiel, it is entirely possible that this will be a defeat. It is extremely _likely _that this will be a defeat. _Why _will you not understand that?"

"Maybe I do understand that. But I know your strength in battle. I know you will succeed. I know this will be a victory."

"Curse you and your child-like innocence and hope!" he said smiling, kissing her forehead.

"That's why you married me," she reminded him. "You will return. At least, you had better return. Because if you don't, I'll tell Glorfindel what happened to his hairbrush last summer."

Erestor gasped. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

Gil-galad walked through Imladris's garden, admiring their beauty. He thought about his decision, and somehow, he knew it was for the best. They would succeed; he just knew it.

Because the fate of all would be decided by that victory... or defeat...

A/N: Please review. Please tell me what you think (especially on my interpretation of Glorfy, Erestor, Elrond, and Gil-galad).

Have a GREAT day!

Malara :)


	2. Arguing

Chapter Two: Arguing

Disclaimer: Nope.

* * *

_Seven years later…_

Lady Galadriel was not happy. Haldir and his two brothers tried to break the bad news slowly, but Galadriel wanted to know everything straightforwardly.

"How many?" she asked.

"My lady, we do not have—"

"How many, Haldir!?"

"Over three times more."

"How could he possibly… He didn't have enough time…"

"He is simply too powerful," Rúmil said. "It would be foolish to fight him."

Galadriel was silent for a moment. "They must know about this. Would you find Lord Celeborn, Lord Gil-galad, and King Elendil, and tell them that I wish to speak with them?"

"Of course, my lady," Orophin said. "Will you stay in here?"

"Yes."

The brothers left with a small bow to find the lord.

* * *

"This is becoming ridiculous!" 

"It took you _this _long to figure that out?"

Alphiel smiled. "No… but they have been gone for _seven years_. Seven years! How can you possibly fight a war for _seven years_!? There are only so many orcs you can kill…"

"You would be surprised."

"But seven years…"

"At least you've spent those seven years at home. Alphiel…?"

"Yes, Lindir?"

"Although the battle may be over soon, I think the war is going to be much longer."

* * *

Galadriel looked around the table, wondering how long it would take to make a decision. There were twelve people total: Gil-galad, Erestor, Glorfindel, Elrond, Celeborn, Celebrían, Elendil, Isildur, Haldir, Orophin, Rúmil, and herself. Everyone looked exhausted… and why shouldn't they? They had been fight, whether at the battlefield or at home, for seven years. 

Once everyone was seated, Galadriel spoke. "I have been informed that Sauron's army is much larger than we expected. There is little hope of winning against him."

"Although it is the leader's decision whether or not his army fights, we must either fight together or there will be no hope," Celeborn said, telling everyone that they all must agree.

"King Elendil, what do you think?" Galadriel asked.

"I think we should fight. We have a strong army and strong soldiers."

"What if we lose the army? There is no hope of victory," Rúmil said.

"Although I know we cannot win, we must fight or surrender," Gil-galad pointed out.

"If we lose the battle, nothing will stop Sauron. He would be free to take anything he wishes."

"Which is everything," Celebrían mused.

"That is why we must wait until our army is stronger," Glorfindel said.

"Every minute we wait, we're giving Sauron more time to build an army," Celeborn argued. "We must act quickly."

"But with caution," Orophin said. "We cannot hope to win if we rush unprepared to battle."

"We will always be unprepared," Galadriel said quietly.

"The risk is too high," Erestor said.

"If we win, the war will be over," Celebrían said.

"If we lose, our lives will be over," Glorfindel commented dryly.

"But wouldn't you rather take a risk, and then be home safe?" Celebrían asked.

"Or dead."

"Yes, Lord Glorfindel, you could lose your life. But at least the fight would be over."

"For how long?" Glorfindel shot back.

"As I reminded you before, it is the sole duty of the commander to decide. King Elendil, what will your army do?" Celeborn asked. Galadriel was glad her husband was trying to find a solution as fast as possible. Arguing was pointless now.

"We will fight."

"And you, Gil-galad?"

"We will fight."

"As will we," Haldir said, nodding. "If this is your decision?"

"Yes." Galadriel said firmly. "If anyone chooses to disagree, please speak now."

"I do not like this at all," Glorfindel said slowly to Gil-galad. "But you are my lord and I will follow your command."

"We've all done stupid things," Erestor said. "One more couldn't hurt."

Glorfindel was not in the mood. "You don't know what you are doing."

Celeborn dismissed everyone before anyone could argue with Glorfindel, and they went their separate ways to prepare for what would come.

* * *

Author's Notes and Responses: 

Piratica: Thank you! This is during the second age, right before Isildur takes the Ring. The plot is… err… COMING! I'm really bad at writing prologues, so I'm apologizing in advance! Thank you for reading!

Navaer Lalaith: This actually takes place right before the third age. I'm sorry for not making that clear. Thanks for reading!

Mr. Random: Thank you! I've changed the plot around a bit (and believe me, it won't be the only time!!). My knowledge of Middle Earth is… not that great! Thank you!

Avalon Estel: Thank you! Yes, it is sad. I think I'm just going to skip that part and make Gil-galad live. _Tolkien fanatics start yelling_ Errr… maybe not! The secret of Glorfy's brush will be revealed… as soon as I come up with it!! Thank _you _for your wonderful stories! _blushes and does little Gollum happy dance_You made my day! My week, actually! That was so sweet of you! I'm glad my mom likes ffnet too! Thank you again!

The next chapter will be much shorter, and SHOULD be up soon. Yes, I can JUST picture you rolling your eyes now because you know that won't happen. It'll be up... well, we'll get to that later. ;) Seriously, tomorrow I have the day off, so I'll work on it then and then next weekend. I'm sorry my updates are so slow!!

Have a great day!

Malara :)


	3. Author's Note

Hello, everybody. The story's on hold (again). Here are the reasons: 

1. My editor really wants me to wait to post until the whole story is finish. And she might have a good point there… :)

2. The plot continues to change CONSTANTLY, so once again, it's a good idea to wait until the story is finished.

3.I need to check my dates and information to make sure their accurate.

4. And, finally, I want to finish my other stuff before I work on this one because it's going to be a huge project.

So I would like that thank you for reading the first two chapters and reviewing! Thanks especially to **Washow **for giving me some helpful advice. If you were wondering, I changed the a/n at the beginning of the chapter.

During the first chapter, Alphiel says something about Glorfindel's hairbrush. Due to **Avalon Estel **asking about it, I have written a quick, one-shot parody about it. If you have time, please go read it!

Thank you for reading this! Have a great day!

Malara :)


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